


The Change

by itskitsworld



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Soltryce Academy (Critical Role)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:48:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27818521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itskitsworld/pseuds/itskitsworld
Summary: Vi Wolfe has been summoned to spar against her older cousin Eric, who will be her new partner as a Volstrucker when she's sent back out in the field.
Kudos: 1





	The Change

Eric paced around the training area. Vi stood still watching him, only moving her head. She was summoned the day before, told to prepare for a training fight, and she knew exactly what this was going to be. She arrived right on time, not too early not too late, and Eric arrived not long after. They hadn’t really spoken yet, walking in silence to the training area, which had been set up differently than what she was used to. It was open, with a few barriers on each end of the room which was about fifty feet across and had a ceiling probably eighty feet high. There were no neatly arranged chairs in the room, occupied by people that were told they would get gold if they helped with an experiment, most of the time to have their minds wiped of the encounter and thrown back out of the street, not even a copper richer than they were before. They were waiting for Lord Uludan and Master Ikithon to arrive, to watch them train with each other for the first time, train being the operative word. They were here to see who would win, which was the better instructor. Why Lord Uludan had chosen her for this endeavor, she wasn’t sure, as she was a few years behind in training than Eric, but she probably shouldn’t question it.

Vi stood against one of the walls, and maintained her face completely neutral, not giving off any emotion of fear, even though her palms were sweating, and her heart was racing and it felt like she couldn’t breath. The door opened to the small balcony high up on the wall, like the boxes in an opera house, and they were here to watch the performance. Eric broke into a grin, summoning a pair of daggers from… somewhere. Why he needed daggers in a magic fight, she didn’t know. He tossed one casually in the air, catching it swiftly, then quick as you please, throwing the other perfectly center on a nearby target. 

That wasn’t going to be good for her, if he was trained in weapons and spells. She took a deep breath, eyes still trained on Eric. As long as she could hit him quite and fast, and stayed out of his range, she should be able to get through this and hopefully have it be called a draw before she was unconscious. She did not expect by any means to win this fight, Eric was older, stronger and had much more training under his belt for more of this situation.

Eric pulled his dagger out of the target in one swift movement, once again throwing the other casually in the air. He leaned on the target, waiting for them to make the call to start. She knew it would be any moment now, so she started preparing for a spell to get the jump on him. They had both already cast mage armour and were standing about 15 ft apart as per the rules that Barret had laid out for them before he left. She practically knew at this point that Eric was going to get the drop on her, but the very least she could do is strike first.

Before their whistle even stopped sounding, she had cast firebolt. Sure it was just a cantrip but if you aimed it just perfectly… Eric stumbled back in pain, clutching the center of his chest where the line of fire had burnt away part of his shirt, leaving a large wound right over his heart. _Perfect._ She thought, as she began to move away from him. Which, she soon realized, was a terrible choice, as he smirked, held up one of his daggers towards her and casted Fireball, centered right on her, as she was far enough away it wouldn’t hurt him too. She manages to throw herself out of the way for the most part, patting out the fire that singed her sweater, a large burn on her forearm. She watched as he took a deep breath, and the wound on his chest got a little smaller. That just didn’t seem fair, she didn’t have any way to heal herself like that. Luckily, it didn’t seem like his fireball was quite as effective as he would have wanted, given the pissed off look on his face.

She narrows her eyes, holding out her hand towards him, fury in her eyes. She cast Blight, a spell she hadn’t used since… anyway. She put a lot of power behind it, fueled by anger and remorse she had in her heart. A deep green wave of energy passed forward and wrapped around Eric, stopping his movement as his skin sagged for just a moment and he looked like a ghoulish version of himself. He quickly snapped out of it, stumbling backwards out of the necrotic energy. A small smile played on her lips, maybe things would go her way after all.

“Good to know we’re not playing around, cousin.” He calls over. “I can bring out the big spells.” He spins quickly, sending a huge lightening bolt her way. She tried to dodge but he seemed to anticipate her movement and she got hit full force with the spell. She gets knocked back a few feet, a large wound in her side where it had struck her, blood dripping from her mouth from the force. That. Fucking. Hurt. She wiped the corner of her mouth; she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

She needed to be smart, and quick. She could tell she was already getting woozy from the fight and nearly stumbled when she began to move. Her brain ran through her spells and realizes what one could be the most useful for the moment. She quickly darts behind a barrier, casts Mislead, and allows her duplicate to exit out of the other side while she snuck back the way she came, invisible, finally able to take a breath. She watches as Eric throws his daggers at the duplicate, slowly but surely walking towards it like he wanted to prolong the suffering. The duplicate looked like she did, just as banged up and she wished she had some kind of healing potion or healing spell to use while she was invisible. She has the duplicate nimbly dodge out of the way, so the daggers fall harmlessly behind it, and she watches as the daggers blink right back to his hands. So those weren’t going away any time soon. 

Before she could even think to move, he casts another spell at the duplicate, holding out a diamond, a small purple sphere shooting towards it. She has the duplicate react like it has been hit, and she could tell he was frustrated that that hadn’t knocked her out. It probably would have; she really wasn’t in the best shape. He also looked banged up, she noticed he winced a bit as he moved. The limits of the spell run through her mind, realizing she can’t do anything right now, not if she wants to have this moment to breathe. She has the duplicate run around to the other side of the room, as far as it can get before, he casts another spell. Fireball. She was luckily close enough to him that she wasn’t hit by the spell this time, watching it get centered on the duplicate. It seemed bigger than his last one, and she could feel the heat of it on her face. That definitely would have taken her out, so she has the duplicate get blasted back and land seemingly unconscious on the ground nearby. Eric grins and looks up at the instructors, Vi following his gaze up. She saw Lord Uludan, his eyes narrowed, and jaw set to the side. Master Ikithon seemed quite pleased. They think the fight is over, and it seems that Eric does too. She wondered what he would do, when given the chance at an unconscious foe. Better to know now when it was an illusion and not an actual person.

He walks over to her illusion, slowly, and she follows, a few feet behind him, light on her feet so he doesn’t notice. This is when she notices arcane sparks crackling around his fingertips, like he was planning on casting something else on her even if she was down, which would almost certainly have killed her instead. He wanted to kill her. He wouldn’t get the chance. 

She reaches out to grab his shoulder, she spins him around towards her and casts Phantasmal Killer, becoming visible while staring in his eyes. The duplicate disappears. She stares up at him as his eyes go wide, then unfocused as the pure nightmares take hold, then he falls to the ground, unconscious. She narrows her eyes at him, staring for just a moment. She felt… pity. He looked like he did when they were kids in that moment, and while the fury inside of her wanted to just finish him off the way he was planning to with her, she instead turns, and walks to the center of the room.

“Can I go back to campus now? While this was a… fun exercise, I do have class in the morning.” She calls out to Lord Uludan, not showing the amount of pain she was in. He was looking down at her, smiling at her approvingly, which quickly turns to smug when he looks at Master Ikithon, who was gripping the handles of his chair and staring with fury at the crumpled body of her cousin on the ground. Perhaps she had left him to a worse fate than she realized, but that wasn’t her problem.

“Yes, little one.” Lord Uludan calls out to her, waving her off. He stood and motioned for Master Ikithon to exit the balcony with him. No one was helping Eric, who remained crumpled on the ground. She looked to see he was still breathing before she left, as she doubted the psychic damage would actually kill him. He probably didn’t have a weak heart like her father, but she’ll find out for sure if he shows back up in her life again.

As soon as she exits the room, she falters against the wall. She touched her side where the lightning bolt had hit her and winced. That was going to take a few days to feel normal again. _But,_ she thought, _I won._ She had won. She had shown them all she was more than just a little broken illusionist. She could fight, she was just as good as- _Fuck._

She had showed them she could fight and even showed enough restraint not to kill him. Her chest felt heavy like she couldn’t get enough breath in them. If they thought- She didn’t want to go back. She couldn’t go back. Tears brimmed her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away and began limping out of the house. This couldn’t happen here. She couldn’t break down at this house, weakness would be even more dangerous than what had happened. She wandered out into the street, wrapping her thin coat around her. She hadn’t prepared dimension door for that day, choosing instead to keep all her offensive spells on deck. All fighting spells that is, except one. When she was safely far enough away from Lord Uludan’s house, she stops for a moment to catch her breath. She wipes some more blood from the corner of her mouth. A good gust of wind could probably take her out at this point, she realized as she finally made it within the walls of the Academy.

Okay. If she was ever going to ask for help, it would be now. She should probably ask for help. Why couldn’t she bring herself to ask for help right now? She didn’t want to be a problem. She didn’t want to be another thing for someone else to worry about. She leans against a wall, setting her jaw to the side. If she didn’t start asking for help, she’ll end up dead. She push her head against the wall once, before casting Sending to Evie.

**Hey. Um. I need help. Please. West Hallway. I’ll explain when you get here. Healing, if you have some. Sorry if I’m waking you, darling.**

It was, if nothing else, a start. 


End file.
